NYMPHICUS NOViE HOLLANDI^. 



(Cockatoo Farrakeet.) 



^ 



Male — Head and throat, yellow ; a patch of reddish orange on the ear coverts ; crest, yellow at the base, grey at the tip ; back of the neck, 

 two central tail feathers, and the external margins of the primaries, grey ; back, shoulders, all the under surface, and outer tail feathers, 

 greyish brown. A white mark extends from the shoulders lengthwise down the centre of the wing. Irides, dark brown ; bill, bluish lead 

 color ; legs and feet, bluish grey. 



Female — Face and crest, dull olive yellow ; throat, greyish brown ; back, lighter than in the male ; lower part of the abdomen 

 and upper tail coverts, yellow ; the four middle tail feathers, grey ; the remainder, yellow — all being crossed with brownish bars except the 

 external webs of the outermost, which are pure yellow. 



Length, 13^ inches ; wing, 6f ; tail, 8 ; tarsus, i- 



This species is found all over the interior, from New South Wales and Queensland to Western Australia, but rarely approaching 

 the coast nearer than 100 miles. Its most northern limit is somewhere about latitude 240. It is migratory, and makes its appearance at both 

 extremities of its range in September, at which time the work of incubation occupies a great share of its attention. It breeds in the holes 

 of trees in the neighborhood of water. The eggs, five or six in number, are white, 1 inch long by f broad. It returns northward about 

 February or March. 



This bird is often caged, and is capable of uttering short sentences. It endures captivity well, and feeds upon canary seed, 

 bread, &c., and has been known to breed in confinement, and rear its young. Its natural food consists of the seeds of grasses. It assembles 

 in immense flocks in various localities at the time of migration, and, being very powerful on the wing, may be seen at long distances from 

 water. 



